No. 6 Miami is up next for Warriors
Top 10 opponents are relatively common for the University of Hawai’i basketball program. Upsets of those top 10 opponents are a bit more rare.
This year’s Rainbow Warriors will get their shot on Friday, when they host No. 6 Miami on the opening night of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Hawai’i has played teams ranked in the top 10 a total of 44 times in previous years. Only three of those games have resulted in Hawai’i victories – 76-65 over No. 2 Kansas in 1997; 84-62 over No. 4 Michigan State in 2005; 83-74 over No. 6 Utah in 1981.
This is the third consecutive season that the Warriors are hosting a top 10 team. They lost to No. 5 North Carolina, 83-68, last season, and lost to No. 3 Oklahoma, 84-81, in the semifinals of the 2015 Diamond Head Classic.
Friday’s game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center, and will be the fourth of four games that day. Miami is the only ranked team in this year’s Diamond Head Classic field.
Friday, December 22
12:30 p.m. – Middle Tennessee vs. Princeton
2:30 p.m. – Akron vs. USC
6:00 p.m. – Davidson vs. New Mexico State
8:00 p.m. – Hawai’i vs. Miami
Saturday, December 23
11:30 a.m. – Semifinal game
2:00 p.m. – Consolation game
5:00 p.m. – Semifinal game*
7:30 p.m. – Consolation game*
Monday, December 25
7:30 a.m. – Consolation game
9:30 a.m. – Consolation game*
1:00 p.m. – Championship game*
3:30 p.m. – Third place game*
* Hawai’i could potentially play in any of these games, pending the previous day’s results
Watched the Miami-George Washington game on Sunday, and was astounded by a dunk from freshman Lonnie Walker. This is the kind of athleticism Hawaii will face tomorrow night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvKaWEnHp0k
Oh, by the way, the McDonald’s AA Walker doesn’t even start (once in 9 games). Also was impressed by Dewan Huell, think he’s 6-10/6-11. Had a double-double.
Warriors in for a huge challenge …